Bruins May Push Hard for Hanifin
The Flames recently scouted a Bruins game - could they become trade partners soon?
Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports - Bruins May Push Hard for HanifinBlueliner Noah Hanifin hasn't signed a new contract with the Calgary Flames yet, and with the Flames unlikely to make the playoffs, it's possible they will move him.
That, plus his six-year, $29.7M-contract with the Flames set to end this season, may have renewed the Boston Bruins' interest in him.
In fact, the Flames recently scouted the Bruins' Tuesday night game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Boston Hockey Now's Jimmy Murphy reported that Flames' Assistant GM Dave Nonis was at TD Garden that night.
On Feb. 12, The Fourth Period reported the Bruins have been linked to him amongst other teams.
This is nothing new. It goes back to Hanifin's draft days. Bruins GM Don Sweeney tried to get him right out of the 2015 entry draft, but lost him to the Carolina Hurricanes. Hanifin is a born-and-raised Bostonian, and played for the Boston College men's hockey team as a teen.
"Everyone knows that he wants to play for the [Boston] Bruins," hockey insider Renaud Lavoie said on Sportsnet radio in December.
Sportsnet's Eric Francis reported the Flames are nervously waiting for a decision from him. Hanifin said his family is a big part of it, and that a decision will be made sooner rather than later.
This seems important with the fast-approaching, March 8, 2024 trade deadline.
The Flames seem to want to hold on to him, as he is a veteran example for their youth movement, and are reportedly offering around $60M in an eight-year contract for him.
Hanifin has 16 blocks and 10 takeaways in his past 10 games, and proves himself as a two-way blueliner who can provide scoring chances with 21 assists and nine goals this season. He is also a physical defenseman, standing six-foot-three and weighing 207 pounds.
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He will be hard to acquire though. The Bruins are short of assets, including no top-three draft picks this season, and missing their second in 2025. If the Flames are looking to rebuild in the draft and to accelerate their youth movement, the Bruins can only offer so much there.
The Bruins are also struggling with limited cap space, and there's no guarantee the Flames would retain part of Hanifin's $4.950M-cap hit.
If the Bruins could pull together some bargaining chips in struggling players such as Jake DeBrusk, who, despite a $4M-cap hit, hasn't scored a point in seven games, they may be able to bid for him.
